Travel Dates: December 2021
Hotel: Bahia Principe Luxury Runaway Bay
Bahia Principe is an all-inclusive resort about an hour away from Montego Bay, and the hotel offers airport transport buses ($28/person roundtrip). We chose Bahia because through Priceline’s lottery function, we were able to get a good deal at Bahia Principe Grand, especially since hotel prices during Christmas week are expensive.
When we arrived at the Grand, we got a discounted upgrade to the Luxury property. The Grand is more for families while Luxury is adults-only. In addition, if you are at the Luxury, you can have access to the Grand and its restaurants, while Grand guests are not allowed on the Luxury side unless they pay $12/person per day for access. Also, the Luxury hotel rooms are a little newer and nicer, and larger than the Grand rooms.
Food:
Like any typical all-inclusive resort, breakfast and lunch consist of buffets. Breakfast is located at Jazmin Restaurant and lunch is served at Las Olas (near the pool). Food is mediocre, but lunch does have amazing, fresh off the grill jerk chicken. There is also a dinner buffet, at Jazmin, and the cuisine theme rotates each night.
Similar to our Bahia experience in Punta Cana, we opted for “a la carte” dining at other restaurants on premise, which required advance reservation. To make a booking, you would use one of the two kiosks in the hotel lobby. Make sure to do this as soon as you receive your hotel room number as you’ll need it for the reservation, and spots are booked very quickly.
We ate at two gourmet-themed restaurants, Don Pablo and Picasso, and two Asian restaurants, Takara and Mikado. Don Pablo had overall decent food, Picasso had very tender lamb, and Takara had well marinated chicken satay appetizers. Mikado has two different types of reservations: the regular restaurant and Teppanyaki. I recommend the Teppanyaki because it’s more entertaining with the chef cooking in front of you, and the waiters sing Bob Marley at each Teppanyaki table.
If you are unable to get a reservation or the timing is too late, you can try and go to the restaurants at 6pm right when they open and see if there are any availabilities (that’s what we did for the Teppanyaki).
Activities:
The resort’s beach was superb for snorkeling. There is a rock barrier which not only means the water is more calm and shallow but also there are coral reefs and a lot of fish. We saw stingray, puffer fish, flounder, small barracuda, and more. You can snorkel every day and see different marine life each time.
Bahia Principe also has free kayak rentals on premise and private mini catamaran sailboat lessons for $40 per person or for a ride for 2 people. The catamaran sailboat lesson or ride is about 20 minutes. There’s also scuba diving, banana boats, etc. but all cost money as well.
Other free amenities at the Luxury include billiards, board games, ping-pong table, and giant Connect 4 which are all in an outdoor tent area near the pool. The Grand also has two billiard tables but they are indoors at the lounge next to the lobby.
Blue Hole & Dunns River Falls – many tour packages do not combine the Blue Hole and Dunns River Falls together, or the cost is expensive. We spoke to the tour stand in the resort lobby and they couldn’t offer us a combined tour, so we went to another stand near the Luxury pool. Fortunately, we were able to book a semi-private (there was only one other couple) tour at a discount for $76 per person to take us to the two locations.
The bus took us to Blue Hole/Island Gully Falls where you can swim in the watering hole, do a “cliff jump” (which is more of a platform jump), and swing off a rope. We then stopped by a souvenir shop before heading to Dunns River Falls & Park. At the park, there is the waterfall climb, beach, water playground, and zip-line. We only had time to do the Dunns River Falls climb, which can be done by yourself or with a guide. If it’s your first time, it’s best to go with a guide because they know how to best climb the falls. Because it does get slippery, water shoes are required. Also, be prepared to get soaked so make sure to not carry anything–there are lockers available to rent. The climb is a bit difficult, but a lot of fun. There are a few exit points throughout the climb if you want to take a break.
Your Jamaican Tour Guide: Private Food Tour – we booked this tour via Trip Advisor ($174 per person) but if you book directly on the website, it should be a bit cheaper. We had a private van take us around town to try authentic Jamaican food (all food and drinks are covered within the tour cost). The first stop was for breakfast, where we got ackee & saltfish, mackerel, fritter, plantains, fried yam, and ginger beer. Then we stopped at Juici Patties for cherry juice, fresh beef and curry chicken patties–which were my favorite. Our guide then took us to two fruit stands to get pineapple, papaya, banana, Jamaican apple, coconut, and mango. Next, we went to Ultimate Jerk for jerk chicken, rabbit, and curry chicken. Final stop on the tour was for dessert–since the ice cream store was closed, our guide got us strawberry short cake. Because we did have some extra time, we asked to be taken to Sharkie’s for seafood. This was not included in the tour so we bought our own curry crab, which the curry was delicious.
Overall the tour is pricey, but if you want to venture outside the resort to taste the local cuisine, this was the best way to do so.
Other travel tips:
The main currency is the Jamaican dollar but they pretty much widely accept USD, especially if you’re on the resort or doing tours.
Because Jamaica was a British colony, they do drive on the left so be aware if you’re crossing the street or thinking about renting a car.
Globe Trotter 